


another day, another near death experience

by Booked_Painter



Category: Titanfall
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-27 12:22:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10808925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Booked_Painter/pseuds/Booked_Painter
Summary: It's been a while, but here he was. Soon to be back on the battlefield with BT, Jack felt, excited! He felt that everything was going to go fine for them. He might've been a little off.





	another day, another near death experience

“Prepare for Titanfall!”

Jack shifted in his seat, his heart pounding in his chest. It had been already been a few months since the… incident as he’s come to call it. Though it was a victory, it barely felt like one at the time. He’d been left to his own devices once they returned to Harmony. Though they’d planned on erasing his neural link and assigning him a new titan, the mad blinking of his helmet had led them somewhere else.

Now, here he was back on the battlefield again. Of course this wasn’t his first mission back with BT, but it still felt, exhilarating to be with the titan. Soon he’d be out there fighting the IMC forces once more, with _his_ titan. Not alone as a rifleman, or with whatever titan they had been planning on assigning to him. The pleasant feeling in his heart grew as he thought of it. The feeling seemed to be mutual as warmth flooded through the neural link.

“Cooper, you seem distracted.” BT comments, intrigued by the sudden burst of fondness in the link.

“Distracted by your presence if anything. It’s just, nice being with you BT.” Jack responded, a grin appearing on his face. One he made sure BT would be aware of.

“Likewise.” He huffed back, and that caused a bark of laughter to erupt from the pilot.

Soon, the lights shut off, and the floor below them retracted. Taking in a deep breath, the two of them were sent into a free fall. Gazing at his surroundings, this was a very rocky planet. There didn’t seem to be much in the way of wildlife, or fauna. But off in the distance, he spotted some sort of base built into the side of a tall mountain-cliff that… looked as if it _melded_ with said cliff-side.

With a thump, the two of them landed on the ground safely. The battlefield roared in a cacophony of bullets, as BT ran for the nearest bit of cover.

“Transferring controls to Pilot.” BT exclaimed, and Jack takes the reigns. He took a peek from the cover, and spotted a few distracted IMC grunts in a line. Switching loadout into Scorch, he threw down a flame wall, and watched the enemy lines get pushed back. There were a few woops and shouts in the comms as other pilots began to move forward and pick away the stragglers.

“Hey BT, remind me why we’re here again?” He asked, throwing down an Incendiary Trap. He watched some grunts begin to run away from it, but with a shot from the Thermite Launcher, they all melt away.

“The militia had been notified that this was a weakly guarded IMC base, which had access to classified information. Out here, we are to distract them and make sure a recon team is able to infiltrate the base, and successfully retrieve the information available here.” BT explained, and Jack merely nodded as he puts up his Heat Shield. When the volley of bullets stopped to reload, he quickly shot at an enemy titan and setting it on fire. A friendly pilot came by, who then proceeded to finish the job for him.

“Kill stealer!” He shouted into the comms, and the other pilot laughs in response. Steam poured out of BT’s vents, and from the neural link, Jack could very much tell that it was the titan’s version of a sigh. The realization caused Jack to roll his eyes, but a smile tugged at his lips.

 

“Cooper! You there?” The voice of Sarah Briggs cuts through the battle, but before he answered her, he takes a moment to shoot down a few more grunts. “Yeah! What’s wrong Commander?” He shouted back, changing loadout into Tone and throwing down a Particle Wall. He heard Briggs make some frustrated noises, before she said anything else.

“The team that was sent to retrieve the data has gone dark. I’m gonna need you to get out of BT, and into that IMC base.” Briggs commanded, and at that very moment, Jack stopped everything. An enemy Legion had begun shooting at the Particle Wall rather dangerously, so he ran for some other form of cover. He shot out some Tracker Rockets, before finally responding,

“What.”

“You heard me.” She responded. Silence filled their ears for a moment, chatter between other pilots was still going loud, but that didn’t drown out the fear creeping up on him.

“Copy that, Commander.” BT interrupted, and shut off their communications. “Cooper.”

“I really don’t feel like leaving your side anytime soon.” He responded, a bit quieter with a quiver to his voice. He hoped BT didn’t notice, but it’s too late as concern filled the neural link.

“Jack, you must follow the orders. I will be alright, as will you. I will be able to communicate with you through your helmet.” BT comforted, and Jack takes a deep breath before placing his hands on the controls once more.

“I got it, Buddy. But we’re gonna have to get a bit closer before I can do anything.” He explained, and he feels the confirmation to his words through the link.

“Copy that, Pilot.” BT said anyways, to reassure him. He ran out of the cover once more, switching loadout into Northstar. From afar, he charged up the Plasma Railgun, and managing to take out the Legion that had been bothering him. He realized his core was fully charged, and scans his environment.

“Cooper, we should move closer to the east wall. I will be able to throw you into the compound from there.” BT pointed out, marking it on his HUD. Dashing to dodge out of a missile’s way, he sent out his own cluster of missiles at a nearby reaper taking it out immediately. He watched an Ion titan approach him, but he throws down a tether trap in its way. A friendly pilot and titan quickly came to dispatch of it.

Once they reached the east wall to the IMC base, he watched as a few troops approach him and BT. He counts down under his breath, waiting for the perfect moment. Then, all at once, he activated the core. BT went flying into the air, and as the grunts and machinery alike were distracted by the rain of missiles, the hatch opened up. Jack hopped out into BT’s open hands, as the missiles finished up and BT began to descend. With his hand wrapped around Cooper’s torso, he threw him at the IMC base.

 

Jack soared through the air, and landed on the roof of the complex. He turned back and lifts a thumbs up into the air. But then he noticed BT had already gone off to continue the fight.

“Good throw. Now, where am I headed?” He asked, through their private comms.

“Connecting to Pilot’s helmet... I am marking your HUD for where the retrieval team’s last position was before they went dark. Good luck, Cooper.” He stands up and takes a look around him. It looked as if the mountain was melting onto the base, as if it had been liquid at one point. The roof of the facility also seemed… empty. There weren’t even any turrets or defense systems. Had they truly not expected an attack of any kind?

“Hey BT, what is this place?” He asked, opening a door that led inside. Looking around, it was just some pristine white hallway, although the walls were faded and a few areas seemed to be in disrepair. The base also seemed to go much deeper into the mountain than he thought. The marker was still almost a kilometer away, diagonal of him, and leading much deeper downwards.

“Accessing files… it seems that this use to be some sort of power plant that drew geothermal energy from this planet’s core. It has not been used in quite some time for unknown reasons.” BT clarified, and Jack nodded thoughtfully. Maybe the recon team had run into some sort of environment trouble? This is, as BT said, some sort of power plant. “Anything else I should know about this place?”

“Yes, there seems to be extreme heat up ahead, implying that a leakage is why this power plant is no longer in functioning order. Do practice caution.” BT pointed out, and that caused a little shiver to run down Jack’s spine. Geothermal energy? How would he be able to defend himself against that..? His worries seemed to have made its presence known in the link, and he heard BT perk up again.

“I will be watching your progress, as such, I will be able to alert you of any unseen dangers.” BT reassured him, and with that, he headed deeper into the power plant. The liquid looking rock that the mountain was made out of seemed to be all over the base. It was on the floors, walls, even covering some doors. He had tried to pry open a few which were half blocked by the odd sedimentation, and failed, on multiple occasions. He swears he could hear BT chuckling through the comms, but he never would’ve noticed it if it weren’t for the playful joy that seemed to register through the link whenever he fell over trying to kick down a door.

 

Once he had truly made some progress deeper into the facility, the heat really did begin to grow. He had started to sweat all over, so he began to slow down. He began to examine his surroundings. Tons of pipes lined the walls around him, which had turned rough and dark. Were these areas mined into the mountain? Most likely. Now, he had something else to address. Why weren’t there any hostiles? He had only passed by a few barely functioning Marvins. There weren’t any stalkers or grunts or even automated turrets!

“Scans show there are no hostiles in the nearby perimeters. You are safe, Pilot.” BT piped up, and he let go of his breath. That’s relieving to hear, the searing heat wasn’t going to let him aim properly if it ever came to that.

“Pilot, your body temperature is increasing drastically. It would be ideal to cool down soon.” BT’s voiced perked up in his ears, and then continued, “Or to take off any unneeded equipment.”

“What? You wanna see me naked?” Jack playfully teased, which was then followed by his own laughter. The titan went quiet for a moment, as if mulling over the offer.

“Objection. I would not even be able to see you from your helmet camera.” BT responded a bit gruffly, as if wanting Jack to cease the humor and continue the mission because he was merely being worried for his pilot’s safety. And judging by how the thought had suddenly tumbled into his mind, it seemed to be the exact reason why. And so, Jack Cooper stripped off his armor, and his pilot jacket, which he tied around his waist. That thing was already soaked, so he basked in the freedom from the sticky jump suit. But the heat didn’t disappear completely, of course it didn’t. Instead, with every step he took the heat would continually rise. Would he have to slowly strip himself of all his clothes? That would be weird, especially if he got to the recon team.

 

Then, static burst into his ears. “Coop-er. L-losing con-connection. Y-y-you a-aa-re g-going too deep.” BT’s voice was full of static, and was barely understandable. “J-Jack. Keep m-mo-moving. Y-You must up…hold t-the m-miss-misson. W-we w-will ssseee e-each other again…go-good l-luuck.” And with that, the static cut out.

“BT? BT!” Jack shouted, but there was no answer. Okay, okay, he had to calm down. Deep breaths. BT is not dead, BT is 100% alive and fighting out there. He trusts him to uphold the mission. Okay? He’s doing this for BT. BT who is not being taken away from him, but BT who is waiting patiently for him to return to the surface. This was reminding him too much of what happened _there._ He shakes his head. He can’t think of that now. He has to keep going. A calm feeling washes over him, and he realizes that it’s BT through the link. BT’s alive see? BT’s alive and noticing that… he’s panicking like some kid who lost his mom at the mall. Flush with a bit of embarrassment, he steeled himself once more.

Continuing on his journey, the ground around him felt as though it shifted beneath his feet. The facility, the rocks, the walls, it was…moving? No, it was less graceful than that, it was _shaking._ It started out a bit more subtly, but as he went deeper, the ground was moving so much it was difficult to even keep his balance. The heat wasn’t helping, as it made him disoriented. It was getting harder to even think.

“BT, what the hell is going on here?!” He shouted into his comms, but there was no answer. Fuck, BT was too far away remember? _God damn idiot_. He managed to stumble his way through the halls, following where the pipes led. He saw the mark on his HUD was extremely close. It felt as if there was an encompassing pressure of heat all around him. They were just around that corner…!

But, as he turned the corner, no one was there to greet him. A mountain of the strange liquid-like rock was all piled high in the middle of the hall. He had to take a few steps back, and a moment to balance himself. Did… did the recon team get buried under all that? He wouldn’t blame them, keeping his own balance was hard enough. But, it seemed as if the rock, actually _had_ been liquid at some point and just, hardened? It was unsettling to think about, he just needed to uphold the mission now.

He double-jumped past the strange rock formation that may or may not have people buried beneath it, towards the control room behind it. He landed with a hard thump, and had much more difficulty getting up than expected. He stumbled around, almost falling over on multiple occasions. The lights in the room were flickering erratically, which only made him even more disoriented. Eventually, he managed to pry the doors open. There seemed to have been an air conditioner in there, but it looked busted, and there were sparks coming off of it. _God_ what he would’ve given for an air conditioner right now.

Something shook him out of whatever trance he had been in. Instead, he took out his data knife, and looked around for a terminal. He saw one at the very front of the room, and stabbed his knife into it. A bunch of screens popped up, fizzling and glitching out. Why did the control room have to be here of all places? Had this been the only terminal remaining with access to the IMC database? Probably.

Jack held onto the knife for dear life as the ground around him shook viciously. He listened as there was a loud churning of old generators trying to keep the terminal going, and transmitting data. But that seemed to have caused something else. The screens proceeded to turn green before shutting off completely. The lights that had been arranging a rave party had suddenly left Cooper in darkness, as the ground around him shook. Then, an alarm sounded. Bright red lights began to shine throughout the area he was in, and an automated voice began saying something through the PA system, but he couldn’t hear exactly what it had said. The heat was getting to him, now more than ever. But something inside him, just pushed him to run.

He sprinted out of the room, almost falling over himself in the process. More and more rocks and boulders were falling from the ceiling, and he vaulted over them. All he could think of was to get out of here, as soon as possible. The searing heat and unstable ground had led him into a wall on multiple occasions, but he managed to gain enough composure to push on.

A burst of static exploded into his ears, which almost caused him to flinch. But, he had no time for any kind of stopping. He had to run. The halls were caving in, but, it wasn’t any normal sort of cave in. The walls seemed as though they were _melting._ Or was that just his disoriented mind playing tricks on him? His hand brushed past the liquid stone, and he _felt_ it. It reminded him of quicksand, and he did not want to get buried in this planet’s rocky equivalent to quicksand.

“Cooper! There is an earthquake causing the planet’s surface to _soften!_ It’s liquefying itself. We’ve received the data, and all the IMC forces have jumped. We’re waiting on you!” Briggs shouted into the comms. Jack jumped over some liquid rock that had dripped in front of him, and continued to run. How was he supposed to get out of here!?

“Copy that! I’m running as fast as I can!” He shouted back, as he continues to sprint through halls crashing down all over him. The exit was just past that corner. He turns to run down a long corridor, as both the liquid and the rock hard stone attempt to catch up with him. He slid beneath a few fallen ceiling lights, but his outstretched leg hits a rather large boulder in front of him. Before he could even attempt to get up, a resounding crash was heard above him. He looked up, watched the ceiling cave in, and rubble fall through.

 

“Cooper! State your status! Cooper!” The deep rumbling voice, the synthetic voice, one that could only belong to one giant titan, helped him come back into consciousness. He blinked away the darkness, looking up, he saw that giant titan stood over him. He was the only thing between Cooper, and certain death. He wanted to lift his hand, to reach out at him. But, when he tried, he couldn’t seem to move. He looked down at himself, he saw, a metal pole jutting out of his gut. Huh, that wasn’t there before. Blood was spewing out, and only now did he feel how wet his shirt was. It was drenched with sweat, and now there’s blood in the mix. He’s definitely going to have a fun time cleaning it. Then, he looked to his arms. They were caught in the liquid rock. Was the rest of him covered as well? Probably.

“Jack! Focus!” BT commanded, and he blinked up at him. The titan was keeping most of the debris away from him. But it had already done some damage. How did BT get here anyways? Perhaps he forced his way in. A sudden full body shudder threw him out of his thoughts, and he coughed out some blood. Agh, fuck. The pain is finally starting to get to him. He looked back up at the titan, the aquamarine glow of his datacore lit up the relatively cramped space they were in, rubble all around them.

“Hey… BT,” Jack muttered under his breath, looking up at the titan, “this is pretty romantic isn’t it?”

“Objection. You are bleeding profusely, and assistance is unable to get to us through the rubble. This situation does not fit the human definition of ‘romantic’.” BT responded sternly. Though, it felt as if concern had laced his voice just then. And a bit of desperation.

“J-just the two of us… the dim lighting… heh, my bleeding stomach is a... is a mood killer isn’t it?” Jack continued, a smile appearing on his face.

BT squinted, his aperture zooming in on Jack’s face. “There is no mood for your injury to kill, only you.”

“H-hah! That…hah… that was pretty… hngh… pretty good BT...” Jack sighed, staring back at the bright eyes. Breathing was getting harder, and the heat certainly wasn’t helping. Silence fell over the two of them for a moment, the only sound between them being Jack’s labored breathing. BT shifted where he stood, and a few stray pebbles fall from the rubble above. Jack was having difficulty breathing, even keeping his eyes open was tiring. It hurt so much..!

“Cooper, continue talking. It will help keep you awake.” BT stated, waking him from his reverie.

“R-really? Or… do y-you just… hah… just want to… ngh..! To… to listen to my voice?” He responded a bit cheekily, although the act was hard to keep up.

“Perhaps both are true.” He answered somewhat playfully, but a serious undertone was still there.

Jack sighed, his breath hitching. “Ah… Y-you’re just…s-sayin that to…to make me feel…hah…better.”

“Objection. I would not withhold the truth from my pilot.” BT argued.

“Aww… t-thanks Buddy…” A deep sigh left Jack’s mouth, and was soon followed by raucous coughing. The movement made whatever innards that were pierced by the metal pole pain him even more. His attempts to muffle cries of pain failed, and BT seemed to flinch at the sound. Then, he carefully moved his arm that had been holding onto some rocks, and did a little thumbs up. That caused a smile to appear once more on Jack’s face.

“Heh…r-remember Typhon..? Rem-remember w-when we… we first m-met..?” He mumbled.

“My memory banks recall it clearly.” He responded, a bit quietly.

“I….I felt so..! So… so scared..! So useless!” Jack continued, “I c-can’t believe L-Lastimosa had…. Had f-faith in me…” his voice wavered thinking about the late captain.

“He placed his faith correctly, we made it out of there alive. You will make it out of here alive.” BT encouraged, sounding… determined.

He groaned, “There w-were… W-we had…so...hah… so many… c-close calls..!” The pain was beginning to get excruciating. Both physical, and mental from recalling all the events.

“If you are going by the definition of that phrase, which means ‘near death experience’ then you are correct.” He stated, not bothering to take the phrase incorrectly.

 

“I-I thought I really…. I really I lost you… BT…” His voice was quiet, barely a whisper.

“And yet, I am still here.” BT reassured him. His voice strong, grounding.

“Yeah… you’re… still…h… here….” Jack breathed out, as he tried to blink away the darkness creeping in from the edges of his vision. BT reached out towards him, to nudge him awake. But then, the rubble all around them began shaking. Dust and rock fell and filled Jack’s view. He could barely see anything as it was, and the quaking ground was making him lose focus. He heard BT say something, but before he could process exactly what it meant, darkness consumed his vision.

 

 

When he opened his eyes, he saw a bright light above him. People were shouting, and moving all around him. He felt something stab him in the chest, and everything went dark once again. He doesn’t know exactly how long he was out, but when he did come into consciousness, this time, it was quiet. Peaceful almost. He squinted as he opened his eyes, and saw white.

“Is this heaven?” He asked, absentmindedly.

“Sadly, no. This is the medical wing, Sir.” Someone answered.

He opened his eyes a bit wider, and only then did he notice the tiled ceiling, and off-white walls. He was in a hospital bed, with a heart monitor and an IV drop next to him. The person from earlier was wearing scrubs, and holding a clipboard in their hands. They seemed to be writing something down on it, before placing it back onto the front of the hospital bed. “There’s some water next to you if needed. Just, press the button over there if you need anything.” The person told him, before wandering off to who knows where.

Jack sat himself up on the bed, and eyed the water for a moment before grabbing the glass and downing it in one gulp. He took a deep breath, another day, another near death experience it seems. Then, someone else in military slacks came over to him, an earpiece in their hands.

“Excuse me, Pilot Cooper? Your titan’s been worried sick about you, here, talk to it.” They handed him the earpiece, before walking off. He stared at it for a bit, before placing it in his ear. BT had been worried about him? That’s, actually very much understandable seeing as that the last situation they were in really hadn’t been the best. He fiddled around with its position for a bit, before turning it on.

“Cooper.” BT almost immediately greeted him.

“Hey, Buddy.” He responded, a smile tugging at his lips.

“The doctors had notified me that you were awake,” He explained, “and it would be beneficial for you to receive visitors.”

Jack tapped at his earpiece, “You ain’t exactly visiting y’know.”

“I am aware, but this is better than forcing my way through the medical wing.” BT stated, rather sternly. It caused him to laugh a bit

“That would be a sight.” He proclaimed.

“And a disaster.” BT responded, and a bark of laughter left Jack. BT seemed to be humoring him, and that was quite nice of him really. The silence between them stretched for a while. Then, he felt something register through the link. It was, anxiousness..? He chuckled to himself, did BT want to talk to him that bad? Or… did BT have something to say to him?

"I miss looking at you though.” He mentioned, feeling himself turn a bit, red.

BT seemed to perk up, “It has only been 13 hours since our last encounter.” He stated. Was he really out for that long?

He scoffed, “Last encounter with death. Let’s have a peaceful afternoon for once.”

“Only once your condition has improved enough for you to be discharged. I would not like to repeat the last incident that happened when you left the medical wing without permission.” He reminded playfully.

“Hey! Don’t blame me for wanting to be by your side after…” Jack fell silent, and BT immediately understood.

 

“I will look forward to speaking with you again during a more, calm situation.” BT continued, bringing him away from wherever his train of thought had been headed.

“Yeah, likewise.”

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a kudos or a comment if you enjoyed! Feedback and criticism are very welcome. Alternatively, tell me if I'm missing any tags, or if I should add/change certain ones! It helps a lot. Thank you!!
> 
> Now, here is a bit of a bullshit explanation on the planet which I've dubbed, Moros. Please welcome everyone's favorite titan,  
> BT-7274!
> 
> "Thank you. Moros, is a young planet that is constantly shifting. It has a very high core temperature, and it seems the IMC had thought it perfect to create a power plant which profited off of that. It also has a type of mineral that seems to only be found there. It is a form of solid that, although it's atoms are tightly packed, has weak chains between them. When not disturbed, they are usually indistinguishable from normal rocks or stones which also litter the planet. But under high temperatures, pressure, or when shook at a magnitude higher than approximately 3.7 on the richter scale, its atoms become weak, and proceed to 'melt'. Said conditions are actually very common on Moros."
> 
> "When Pilot Cooper had activated the old terminals, they were connected to generators that generated power from the geothermal energy. It's activation, caused the planet-wide earthquake. This is the most likely reason as to why the base was abandoned."
> 
> Take note, I have no idea how any of this really works. I just thought it'd be cool to have a planet that works that way, and what better way to explore it than by dropping in these two?
> 
> EDIT: fixed the spacing between a few paragraphs and added a rating :p


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